Shiva leaves Parvati behind

One day Shiva wanted to go and visit Mount Mandara. He was in a terrible rush, but Parvati was not ready. Finally Shiva decided to leave without her. Some apsaras and gandharvas, or celestial musicians, followed him.

When they reached the destination, Shiva began to feel sorry that he had not waited for Parvati to accompany him. So he sent Nandi back to bring Parvati.

Meanwhile, Parvati was sulking. How could Shiva go without her? When Nandi arrived, she said to him, “You have come to get me, but I am still not ready and I do not know when I will be ready. You can go and tell Shiva that I am not ready.” Parvati was very sad and depressed.

Nandi went to inform Shiva that Parvati was still not ready. This time Shiva told him, “Nandi, go back and wait for her. No matter how long it takes, wait for her. You have to bring her here.”

Nandi returned to Parvati again and waited and waited for her to finish getting ready. In the meantime, some apsaras and gandharvas wanted to fool Lord Shiva. The apsaras were the main instigators. One of them took the form of Parvati and one of the gandharvas took the form of Nandi. They looked exactly like the real Parvati and the real Nandi.

This particular apsara and gandharva appeared before Lord Shiva. The false Nandi said, “I have brought Parvati,” and the false Parvati added, “Yes, my Lord, I have come.” Shiva was very, very happy. He thought they were the real Parvati and Nandi.

O God, in a few minutes’ time, the real Parvati and the real Nandi arrived, and there was great confusion. The second Parvati insisted that she was the real one and the first Parvati insisted that she was the real one. A fight broke out between the two sides, but the real Parvati and the real Nandi easily defeated the false ones.

Then Lord Shiva, with his infinite compassion, forgave the false Parvati and the false Nandi.